Market Snapshot
Singapore stocks opened higher on Monday. STI rose 0.25%, SIA rose 0.8%, Sheng Siong rose 0.67%, Keppel rose 0.29%, Wilmar International fell 0.29%.
Stocks to Watch
DBS: The bank has put up for sale a portfolio of 46 HDB shop and shophouse units, and private strata retail units with a total guide price of about S$210 million. Last Friday, The Business Times reported that the unit with the highest guide price of slightly above S$19.4 million was a 5,145 square foot space at 6 Raffles Quay. Shares of DBS ended S$0.04 or S$0.01 per cent lower at S$36.41 on a cum-bonus basis, before the news.
Wilmar International: The agribusiness group on Sunday confirmed media reports that its 80 per cent-owned subsidiary’s tank terminal facility had been hit by a missile last Friday. In an update on Monday, Wilmar estimated it would take about six months to rebuild the destroyed oil tanks. It does not expect the incident to have a material impact on its financial results for FY2024. Shares of Wilmar ended Friday S$0.02 or 0.6 per cent up at S$3.40.
UOB: CONCERTS have seen a strong post-pandemic revival, and the wave does not seem to be slowing down in Singapore just yet. Over the past two years, the Republic has attracted shows by global artistes, which have been sold out and attended by concertgoers from around the world. One local bank, in particular, has been a key benefactor of the post-pandemic concert frenzy.
Sheng Siong: Its shareholders are asking the company for more details on its view on mergers and acquisitions and its capital allocation priorities, among other things. A list of their queries was posted in a bourse filing last Friday, and included shareholder concerns that the group’s finances were not being used as efficiently as possible. Shares of Sheng Siong closed flat at S$1.50, before the announcement.
Sabana Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust (Sabana Reit): Singapore Exchange Regulation (SGX RegCo) said in a reply letter dated Apr 18 that Reit sponsor ESR Group and its related parties will not need to abstain from voting on any proposed resolution related to amending the trust deed. This is because the amendments will affect all unitholders, including the sponsor and its related parties. Sabana Reit’s counter ended flat at S$0.36 on Friday.
Cordlife Group: A group of its directors have filed for an injunction to restrain the cord-blood bank from issuing new shares. An interim injunction was granted by the High Court last Friday, announced the company on Monday. Shares of Cordlife last traded down S$0.022 at S$0.123 at an all-time low on Friday before the company requested a trading halt. The counter resumes trading on Monday.
SG Local News
Singapore Dollar Outshines Peers With 40% Advance Under PM Lee
When Lawrence Wong succeeds Lee Hsien Loong as Singapore’s new prime minister next month, he will inherit not only a healthy economy but also robust local assets from a rallying currency to outperforming bonds and stocks.
Since Lee entered office in 2004, the Singapore dollar has risen about 40% against the currencies of the city-state’s major trading partners, more than twice the gain for the US dollar in the same context, Bloomberg-compiled data show. Total returns on Singapore government bonds have outpaced their global peers by around 16 percentage points in the same period.
Asking Rents Down As Demand Slows and Rental Listings Surge
ASKING rents of private residential landlords in Singapore have been slipping since the last quarter of 2023, as rental demand eased and supply surged, a report by online property portal PropertyGuru found.
The study, published in late March, showed that asking rents – as indicated by rents specified in listings on PropertyGuru’s portal – steadily declined in the last three months of 2023. The correction in asking rents in October and November consequently led to transacted rents dipping as well in December, said Lee Nai Jia, head of real estate intelligence, data and software solutions at PropertyGuru.
2.5km Underground Link to Be Built Between Changi Airport T2 and Future T5
A 2.5km-long underground link will be built to connect the future Changi Airport Terminal 5 (T5) with the existing Terminal 2 (T2). It comprises tunnels for an automated people-mover system – similar to today’s Skytrain – and a separate system to handle baggage.
Part of ongoing infrastructural works at the new 1,080ha Changi East development, the T2 Connection will link T5 with Changi’s existing terminals when the mega terminal opens in the mid-2030s, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) told The Straits Times in response to queries.
Travellers going in & out of S’pore with more than S$20,000 cash to make online declaration
All travellers entering and leaving Singapore must make an online declaration if they have more than S$20,000 in cash or its equivalent in foreign currency from May 13, 2024.
The police said in an April 19 statement that the move is to make the existing declaration process simpler and more convenient.
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